Sweden tightens anti-terror laws when Finland publicly shows support for the NATO application
The Swedish government says it will further tighten its anti-terror laws to ban more activities linked to militant Kurdish groups, hoping to persuade Ankara to drop objections to Sweden’s bid for NATO membership.
Stockholm had already amended its constitution in November to pave the way for the legal changes that have been in the works for several years.
“It is a broader criminalization, aimed at a large number of activities within a terrorist organization that are not concretely linked to a particular terrorist crime,” explained Minister of Justice Gunnar Strömmer at a press conference.
Under the new bill, actions such as handling equipment, organizing demonstrations or meetings, handling transport for organizations designated as terrorists – or even cooking for them – would be criminalised. The government plans to put the bill to a vote in parliament in March, to be implemented from June.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Finland True Marine was in Stockholm last Thursday for a meeting with his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson, in yet another public display of solidarity between the Nordic nations.
Marin told reporters that Finland wanted to continue together with Sweden in the accession process and seemed confident that the problems with Turkey would be overcome by the next NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
“It is very important that we send a clear message today. Finland and Sweden applied together, and it is in everyone’s interest that we join together,” said Marin.
“I don’t like this view where Sweden is portrayed as the difficult child of the class,” Marin noted, adding that Sweden already meets all the membership criteria to join NATO.
Prime Minister Kristersson said he appreciated the “very clear messages” from Marin and the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö about the subject.
What does Turkish President Erdogan want?
Of NATO’s 30 members, only the parliaments of Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify entry for Sweden and Finland, which are worried about their security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey has increasingly demanded action from Sweden, particularly against Kurdish groups it considers “terrorist organizations”, including members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and allied groups in Syria.
Regular pro-Kurdish demonstrations in Sweden, where PKK flags are often flown, have been particularly irritating; but Sweden has also declined to extradite dozens of suspects linked to Ankara’s banned Kurdish fighters and a failed coup attempt in 2016.
According to the new Swedish anti-terror legislation, participation in a demonstration or meeting in an organization that is considered terrorist will not be punishable in itself. Waving a flag would not be criminal in itself but could potentially be used as evidence in court, authorities said.
Turkey had also reacted with fury to a decision by Swedish police to allow a protest in which a right-wing extremist burned a copy of the Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm earlier in January.
It has also been angered by a Swedish prosecutor’s decision not to bring charges against a pro-Kurdish group that hung a picture of Erdogan by the ankles outside the Stockholm district court.
Following these incidents, Ankara last week suspended the two countries’ NATO accession negotiations but has hinted that Finland’s bid could be ratified, while Sweden’s would be put on hold.
Survey: A small majority of Finns want to continue without Sweden
At the same time, a new survey shows that a majority of Finns are in favor of their country joining NATO without waiting for Finland.
The survey, by the Finnish daily Ilta-Sanomat, showed that 53% of respondents believe that Finland should not “wait for Sweden” in the NATO accession process, even “if it takes longer to ratify due to, for example, Turkey’s resistance”.
Only 28% thought the country should wait to join the military alliance together with Sweden. Researchers asked 1,021 Finns between January 30 and February 1.
The two countries applied for NATO membership together in May 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, although they had been closely aligned with the 30-member military alliance for decades.